Lighting fixture for elongated tubular lamps



LIGHTING FIXTURE FOR ELONGATED TUBULAR LAMPS Filed Feb. 2, 194a R. l. BERRY Oct. 9, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fnVnZar I Robert l Berg 2E VZ/ Z; Maw/ 5 1951 R. l. BERRY LIGHTING FIXTURE FOR ELONGATED TUBULAR LAMPS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb 2. 1948 fur E272??? Robert .ZBervfy Patented Oct. 9, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT "OFFICE LIGHTING FIXTURE FOR ELONGATED TUBULAR LAMPS Robert I. Berry, Chic ago, Ill., assignor of one-half to Jewel Tea 00.; Inc.," Barrington, 111., a corporation of New York Application February 2, 1948, Serial No. 5,784

2 Claims. (Cl. 24051.11)

This invention relatesto lighting fixtures for mounting fluorescent lighting tubes on a ceiling or other horizontal surface.

Fluorescent lighting tubes, particularly when used for store lighting, are frequently mounted on indirect lighting fixtures arranged to conceal the tubes and to reflectv the light from them against the ceilings. In other installations the tubes are screened from the customers eyes by means of metal grids placed below the tubes, permitting only vertical light rays to come through the grids. Both of these systems cause considerable loss of efficiency.

' My invention provides an entirely new mode of mounting fluorescent tubes to yield adequate concealment of the tubes without the loss in efflciency attendant upon the two systems referred to above. My fixtures shield the tubes from the customers eyes as they are entering the store, yet no bafiles or reflectors are interposed between the tubes and the goods that they are intended to illuminate.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a fluorescent tube lighting fixture which partially conceals the tube without impeding the full radiation of light therefrom.

Another object of the invention is to provide a ceiling fixture for the mounting of fluorescent lighting tubes which provides a housing for concealing wires and other accessories while provid-- ing for the mounting of a fluorescent tube on an inclined surface of the fixture so arranged as to conceal the lighting tube from being seen from the opposite side of the fixture, the inclined surface serving also as a reflector. Another object of the invention is to provide a fixture for a fluorescent lighting tube including a member for permanent attachment to a ceiling and another member for hinged connection with the first member both providing a covered passageway for Wires and other supplementary accessories, the hingedmember providing an inclined surface on which the fluorescent tube may be mounted to conceal the tube from view from the other side of the fixture and which surface serves as a reflector. I

Another object of the invention is to provide, in mounting apparatus for fluorescent lighting tubes, hollow structures constructed in relatively short demountable sections with vertical separators to be disposed-between the opposed ends z a last and at the same time providing inclined reflectors for reflecting the light from the tubes downwardly at a substantial angle from the vertical.

Another object is to provide standardized fixture units adapted for convenient end to end connection to adapt the system readily to store ceilings of various widths.

7 Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a perusal of the following speciflcation and drawings in which a preferred form of the invention is described and illustrated. I

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of one complete fixture and a portion of another, made in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line IIII of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line III-III of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a detail View showing in disassembled relation the hinge structure employed in the illustrated form of this invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the ceiling channel member.

. Figure 6 is a perspective view of the hingeable body member.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a separator or end plate used in this invention.

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the connecting bar employed for joining two ceiling channel members together end to end.

Figure 9 is a detail showing one manner of bending the ears on the plate of Figure 7.

Figure 10 is a detail showing another manner of bending the upper portion of the plate shown in Figure '7.

Referring further to the drawings, there is shown a ceiling channel member generally designated as A and a body member generally designated as B, the channel comprising a horizontal portion II which may be secured to the ceiling by screws or bolts extending through apertures such as I 2. The electrical cable for supplying current to the fixture mounted on the body member may conveniently be brought downwardly from the ceiling through the aperture 13. Each channel has a pair of depending legs l4 and I5.

member as followsi four hinge elements such as shown in Fig. 4 are secured at the rectangular aperture 2|, shown in Fig. 6, each of these hinge elements having a tongue portion 22 which can be passed through the aperture and laid up against the underside of the flanges H3 or H) and thereafter welded as indicated in Fig. 4.

Similar hinge elements 23 and 24 will have their inner tongue portions 25 and 26 inserted through the larger square apertures 21 in the depending legs of the channel member. These inner leg portions may then be welded to the leg portion of the channel as indicated in Fig. 4. Thereafter the sets of hingeelements such as 20, 23 and 24 may be brought together and united by means of pins such as 28 and cotter pins such as 29 may be then employed to retain these hinge pins 28 in place. his apparent therefore, as indicated in Fig. 3, that the hinge assemblies on either side may be employed for pivotally supporting the body member on the flangemember While the hinge assemblies on the opposite side may be employed to lock the. channel and body in the closed position shown in Fig. 3.

As this lighting fixture is intended primarily for store lighting, the fixture unit just described will ordinarily be mounted on the ceiling parallel to the store front, and on the rear wall such as the wall I! the fluorescentlighting tube 30 will be mounted upon a pair of standard tube sockets 3| and 32 of the type commonly employed for that purpose. Preferably, though not neces- 'sarily, each fixture unit such as has just been described will mount one tube, hence if it is desired that more than one tube be positioned in alignment across the width of the store as many additional units may be mounted end to end as are deemed necessary. If it be so desired, the ballast element which is generally used with these tubes may be mounted inside of the triangular duct formed by the fixture. The suggested location of such a ballast unit is indicated by dot and dash lines 33 in Fig. 3. The sockets for supporting the fluorescent tubes are conveniently mounted on this unit by extending the inner ends of the sockets through the rectangular notches 34 and 35 provided at the end of each triangular body member and securing them in any desired'manner.

When two or more fixture units are to be assembled end to end I prefer to connect them by means of the connector 35 which has depending flanges 37 and 38 at its opposite ends and which is so proportioned that it will fit snugly inside of the end portion of one channel member A and inside the end portion of the next abutting channel member A. Holes 39 and 4B are pro vided as shown in the connector and channel flanges through which bolts 4! and 42 may be passed for firmly connecting the end abutting channel members.

In addition to the connectin member 36 I also provide a vertical separating plate which is placed in the joint between two end to end abutting lighting fixtures. This plate 43 has an upper flange 44 which, for this purpose, will be bent downwardly at the line 45 to assume the position shown in Figs. 2 and 10. The holes 46 and 47 in the extremities of the flange 44 are registered with holes 43 and 45 in the end of the body member B. This separating plate then may be firmly secured to the trough B by means of bolts, one of which is shown and indicated as 59 in Fig. 2. The bending down of the flange 44 also permits cables from one body unit B to be passed over this flange into the next abutting body unit, so that several of these adjoining fixtures may be placed on the same circuit, if desired.

The separator plate 43 serves several useful purposes. One is to render less conspicuous or substantially conceal theopen joint between the two end abutting fixture units. Another pur pose is to prevent interference between two adjoining units when one of them is unlocked for hinging movement and swung downwardly whenever occasion arises for reaching the interior of the unit for inspection or adjustment of the cables, ballast or other accessories which may be con ealed. therein.

The plate 43 is also employed for closing up the end of one of these fixture units, as shown at the right end of Figures 1 and 2, For this purpose the flange 44 is permitted to stand upright, but the tabs 5| and 52., shown in Fig. 7, will be sheared along he horizontal lines 53 and bent about the vertical dotted lines 54, as shown i i Fig. 9, and thereafter these tabs may bebolted to the end apertures such as. 55 and 56 in the channel member by bolts passed horizontally through the holes 46 and 41.. Thus the end of the unit is appropriately and neatly closed, yet the adjoining body member'B may be pivoted downwardly without interference by the. end plate 43.

When these lighting fixtures are used for store lighting parallel rows of the fixtures will ord narily be secured to the ceiling, extending parallel to the store front. The rows may be spaced apart about 7 to l0 feet, for exam le. The fluorescent light tubes 30 will be disposed on. the rear inclined Walls. Hence they will not be visible to customers entering at the front of, the store. The light from these tubes is directed downwardly and rearwardly upon the goods rather than into the eyes of the customers and the ceiling between the spaced apart rows of fixtures will also be illuminated. Hence there will not be any succession of dark and light spots on the ceiling as occurs in some lighting systems. Furthermore the full value of the lighting produced by these tubes is utilized, there being no loss of emciency as is customary with indirect lighting systems or grid-concealed systems.

It should further be noted that the manner o securing the. body members or V-shaped trough members 3 to the ceiling channel members by means of hinge brackets makes it possible for either the rear or front hinge brackets to be used for pivotal swinging of the body member.

Hence in servicing these units the worker may employ either hinge assembly as a hinge and the other as a lock.

The entire fixture maybe made of thin sheet steel with any desired surface finish, or other sheet material may be employed.

Having shown and described my invention, 1 claim;

1. In a f uorescent tube lighting fixture, an elongated channel support member having spaced vertically extending legs facing the ground, a ballast and conductor encasing and tube-supporting body extending along and beneath said channel, said body being V-shaped in transverse cross section with the apex of the V facing the ground and the distance between the upper extremities of the legs thereof being wider than the space between the legs of said channel, each inclined leg of said body having inwardly extending flanges forming continuations of the upper ends of said legs and terminating adjacent the legs of said channel, each of said flanges having a plurality of longitudinally spaced hinge elements extending upwardly therefrom along the outer sides of the legs of said channel, and each of said legs of said channel having a plurality of corresponding spaced outwardly projecting hinge elements cooperating with said hinge elements projecting upwardly from said flanges, hinge pins pivotally connecting the associated of said hinge elements together, means releasably securing said pins to said hinge elements, permitting hinging of said body for access to the interior thereof from either side thereof, and closure plates secured to the ends of said channel and extending downwardly along said body beyond the lateral and lower limits thereof and being free from said body, but closing the ends thereof and allowing pivotal movement of said body with respect to said closure plates about either of its sides, without interference with said closure plates.

2. In a fluorescent tube lighting fixture, an elongated channel member for mounting on a ceiling having parallel spaced vertically extending legs facing the ground, a horizontally elongated ballast and conductor housing and fluorescent tube-carrying body extending along and beneath said channel and supported thereby, said body being V-shaped in transverse cross-section, with the apex of the V facing the ground and with the distance between the upper extremities of the legs of the V at the base thereof greater than the width of said channel, each of said inclined legs of said body having inwardly extending flanges forming continuations thereof, the inner ends of which terminate adjacent the legs of said channel, means detachably securing said body to the legs of said channel for opening for access to the interior thereof from either side thereof including a plurality of longitudinally spaced hinge elements securedto and extending upwardly from the flanges of said body, a plurality of longitudinally spaced laterally extending hinge elements secured to and extending outwardly from the legs of said channel in position to cooperate with said upwardly projecting hinge elements, releasable hinge pins connecting said hinge elements together, and closure means for the ends of said body, secured to the ends of said channel and depending therefrom along said body beneath the lower limits thereof, said closure means being confined within the limits of said channel in the region thereof and extending outwardly therefrom beneath the lower margins of said channel and beyond the extremities of the legs of said body distances sufiicient to maintain the ends of said body closed when hinged for access to the interior thereof from either side thereof.

ROBERT I. BERRY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,291,490 Naysmith 1 July 28, 1942 2,291,495 Beals July 28, 1942 2,327,552 Poehling Aug. 24, 1943 2,336,599 Dunbar Dec. 14, 1943 2,338,077 Scribner Dec. 28, 1943 2,427,084 Alderman Sept. 9, 1947 2,440,603 Guth Apr. 27, 1948 

